Fighting Chance
by rainbowsandbutterflies026
Summary: Blaine has a secret. He didn't tell Kurt because it didn't seem important, I mean, the chances of relapsing twice are slim. But the symptoms are coming back and the his worst fears are confirmed, the cancer is back. And now he has to tell Kurt.
1. Chapter 1

Blaine's eyes opened slowly, sitting up and noticing it was dark outside. He groaned, looking at the alarm clock that flashed 3:27AM at him. A hand lifted to his forehead, wiping the sweat that lay there. His cotton shirt was sticking to his chest. He had to change. The dampness was making him feel hot, and uncomfortable. Blaine sat up and walked slowly to his dresser, pulling out a thin tank top and clean pair of boxers before going to his washroom. He stripped his pyjamas off and run a wet towel over his body, knowing a shower would only wake his parents and he didn't need to concern them. He pulled on the tank top and boxers before throwing the old clothes and towel in his laundry hamper and returning to bed to try to sleep.

He couldn't. He thanked the heavens above that the next day Dalton was having an open house and tour for potential new students and classes were cancelled, hence why he was at home. He would not have been able to attend school the following day if they were running, he could feel it. He was coming down with some kind of flu. Blaine pulled his laptop over to his bed and turned it on, he found that his boyfriend of 2 weeks was awake and on IM. Blaine smiled, clicking his user name.

**Blaineanderson:** Heyyyy! :)  
**GagaFierce:** Blaine? What are you doing up? Isn't it like 4 in the morning over there?  
**Blaineanderson:** lol, could say the same about you. Isn't 7 a little early for Mr. Kurt Hummel?  
**GagaFierce:** I'm taking some extra shifts at the shop for my dad cuz his doctor said he's working too much...  
**Blaineanderson:** oh... is he ok?  
**GagaFierce:** For now. Thank goodness.  
**GagaFierce:** If he had another heart attack, I would probably die  
**Blaineanderson:** please don't be so melodramatic...  
**Blaineanderson:** Anywho, if you died, I'd miss you, so please dont!  
**GagaFierce:** Hahah :) ok, I won't.  
**GagaFierce:** and, btw, I'd miss you too  
**Blaineanderson:** hm?  
**GagaFierce:** If you died  
**GagaFierce:** I'd miss you too

Blaine froze. He inhaled sharply, that was too close to home. His mind wandered back to when he was 10, pale, weak, thin, coughing in a colourful room full of toys and comfortable chairs with an IV in his arm. A room that was supposed to lighten children's spirits. To make them forget the crap in their lives. The day the doctor had told him he might not make it.

**GagaFierce:** Blaine?  
**GagaFierce:** You there?

Blaine blinked, he hadn't answered for a good 5 minutes. He quickly answered Kurt.

**Blaineanderson:** uh... yeah... i'm here...  
**Blaineanderson:** look, I gotta go. i'm getting kinda tired again. i'll talk to you later. have fun at work!

Before Kurt could answer, Blaine signed off. He shut the laptop, putting it on his night stand and threw his face into his pillow, screaming into it. The sound muffled by the thick material. 10 minutes later, Blaine guessed the pillow wasn't strong enough. His mother ran into his room.

"Blaine, Honey? Is something wrong?" She asked him, sitting on the edge of his bed rubbing smooth circles into his back.

"Nothing's wrong, mom." He muttered, "Just had a bad dream." She smiled sympathetically, he swiped some curls from his forehead, frowning and putting her hand on his forehead fully.

"Sweetie, are you feeling alright? You have a fever." Blaine shut his eyes.

"I have a bit of a headache and my stomach hurts, but I'm fine. I promise mom." She didn't look convinced.

"Don't downplay this, Blaine. You know that something that might seem like a simple cold could actually be-"

"Yes, mom! I realize that, you think I forget the last time?" Blaine shouted, "I know that what seems like a cold could be the cancer coming back. But it's not, mom. You know goddamn well that relapsing twice is a one in a million chance. Just leave me alone, I'm fine!" He yelled. His mother shut her eyes and pulled away from him.

"Okay, go back to sleep. I'll take you to Dr. Dasilva in the morning." Blaine rolled his eyes as she left. He hated doctors, he had had enough of doctors for his entire lifetime.

-

He was in the car with his mother and little sister, Hailey at about 10 that morning. He had not eaten the normal sized breakfast his mother made him, saying he wasn't hungry. This only supported his mother's side. They pulled into the doctor's office and Blaine took his sister out of her car seat before walking out of the car with her in his arms. When they got to the doctor's office, he was taken into the doctor right away, ahead of all 10 patients who were already waiting. The receptionist had said he was a priority patient, especially if his mother's suspicions were correct.

"Hello again, Blaine, Cassandra, Hailey." The sweet looking middle-aged woman said when she entered the room with Blaine's folder. "Let's get started." She said with a smile at Blaine. She did a routine check-up, prescribing him some more inhalers for his asthma.

"I'm going to do a CBC now, okay Blaine? The results will be ready in about an hour if you want to wait after your appointment." Blaine shrugged, not caring anymore. He lifted the sleeve of his navy blue long sleeve shirt and looked to his little sister who was seated to his left. Their mom put her on the table beside him and she held his hand.

"Don't cry Blainey." She told him, seeing a tear fall from his eyes. He was scared. Being here, getting a blood test. It was making this all far too real. He was scared of what the results would be. He tried to smile at his sister.

"Don't worry, Hails. I'm fine." He told her, his voice cracking with emotion. "Everything's going to be okay."

After an hour, the Andersons were at the mall, trying to get their minds off of the events of that morning. Trying to be happy. Of course, Hailey was oblivious. She was skipping through the mall, pulling her brother and mom's hands going from store to store. They were seated at the food court when Mrs. Anderson's phone rang. She lifted it to her ear.

"Hello?... Yes, this is she... Okay, is everything alright?" She paused, before looking up at her son who was watching her intently; she tried to smile comfortingly, but failed before dropping eye contact. "We'll be right there. Thank you Daisy." She said. Blaine's stomach was in knots when she returned to look at him, fear in her eyes. "The results are ready; Dr. Dasilva wants to talk to all of us right away."


	2. Chapter 2

When they pulled up to their father's workplace, Blaine only then realized the results had to have been bad. His mother would not be bothering his father during the work day unless it was life or death situation. Soon enough, the four of them were back at the doctor's office. The sweet smile from that morning was gone; replacing it was a solemn expression.

"As you know, we did a CBC on Blaine." She started, "The results were sent to the lab we have in the building straight away to be examined, the results came back." She paused, playing with the pen nervously. "Blaine's blood work shows that there is a great possibility the Leukemia is back." She told them. "I will have to send you to an oncologist to do another CBC test, a coag panel and a bone marrow aspiration to confirm my suspicions, but it doesn't look good." Blaine leaned on his mother's shoulder, letting out a small whimper. She just hugged him.

It was a blur as the doctor explained the tests to their parents, getting Daisy to call the oncologist in the building to set up an appointment for Blaine for that day. It was a blur when she told them that he would take Blaine right after his current appointment that was ending in 20 minutes. It was a blur walking out of Dr. Dasilva's office, into an elevator and to another floor of the building to meet with his new oncologist. He sat in a chair in the waiting room for a few minutes before his name was called. Then he was in a room, set up like a hospital room. He was in a blue backless hospital gown, sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling awkward as Hailey sat on his lap, playing with his curly hair that had foregone gel. After 3 minutes, the door opened and in walked a middle-aged man with brown hair and a bit of scruff.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Dallinghouse." He introduced, shaking hands with Mr. Anderson, then Mrs. Anderson, then Blaine before smiling at the four year old in his lap and patting her head. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, but I guess if there were better circumstances, we wouldn't be meeting, would we?" He tried to smile, but sighed when he noticed his patients were too nervous for jokes.

"Alright, let's get these tests over with." He mumbled, he turned to the little girl for a second. "Sweetie, would you mind getting off of your brother's lap? I have to do some tests on him." She frowned, looking at Blaine and nuzzled her head in his stomach and shaking her head. Blaine smiled apologetically.

"She's kinda attached, since I go to boarding school in Ohio. She barely leaves my side when I come home." Blaine informed him, a hand in Hailey's blood hair. "Is it okay if you start with the CBC test and then we can move her to get the bone marrow biopsy?" Dr. Dallinghouse nodded with a small smile.

"Of course, Blaine. That's perfectly fine." The CBC was as harmless as the last one. Once the blood was taken, the doctor handed it to an assistant and Cassandra went to move Hailey from Blaine's lap.

Soon the sophomore was on his side on the bed, his back starting to feel numb after a few minutes due to the local anaesthetic. His mother was holding his hand as the aspirate needle was forced into his body. Blaine gritted his teeth, forcing back a cry to not scare Hailey as it drilled into his bone. He squeezed his mother's hand hard, he saw it turning white and he wanted to pull away from it and apologize to her, but it hurt too much. The worst part, was hearing the drill chiselling his bone. The sound made him want to puke when he remembered it was his bone making that noise.

Blaine tried to block out was he knew was happening behind his back as the doctor pulled out liquid bone marrow, and then solid bone marrow. He felt the pain of the excursion. Gritting his teeth, he tried to focus on positive things. Hailey's first dance recital in a couple of months, he smiled, remembering he was going to drive her to her dance lesson later. The in class chemistry lab that they were doing on Wednesday and who he partner would be. The date he had with his beautiful boyfriend on Monday night after Warbler rehearsal. That one definitely made him smile.

Kurt had taken him to one of the close off campus restaurants and had given him a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Yellow orchards, he explained, because they were just a beautiful as the man he was giving them too. Then they had gone back to Blaine's dorm and watched some movies curled up on Blaine's bed together. Kurt had fallen asleep half way through Hairspray, Blaine had had to call his dad and tell him what had happened and Burt had informed him not to worry, that Kurt could spend the night at Dalton. Blaine had untangled himself from his boyfriend, turning off the TV and went to go sleep on the couch, because no matter what, his relationship with Kurt was far too new be doing things like sleeping in the same bed together. Blaine rolled his eyes, oh how the tables of turned. What he thought was such a big deal only 4 days prior now seemed so small compared to where he was now...

"Great job, Blaine!" Dr. Dallinghouse exclaimed after he pulled out the needle. He cleaned Blaine's back, bandaging it with gauze and helped the teenager sit up straight. "You can get changed back into your normal clothes. The results will be ready in about 2 hours. Go home, rest. We'll call you with the final diagnosis."

30 minutes later, Blaine was distracting himself by helping Hailey get ready for her ballet class. He smiled at her, she looked so adorable with her blonde hair pulled into a bun on her head, a black leotard, nude coloured tights, and a pink bag holding her ballet shoes and the skirt her teacher liked them wearing. He helped her into her jacket and shoes and then they left in their mother's car.

The class was enough to help Blaine forget everything in his life at the moment. His little sister was the picture of innocence and happiness. She would look up and smile at him every so often, as if to say 'Look, Blaine! Aren't you proud of me?' And he was. He was so proud of little Hailey. Once the teacher called them into a circle and he was no longer able to distract himself by watching Hailey dance, his mind drifted. Would he be able to watch Hailey's recital come May? Would he be able to watch her start school? Watch her finish school? Would he be there to play the part of protective older brother when she starts dating? Would he be there to hold her hand and hug her when she got her first broken heart? His eyes welled with tears, but he held them in, not letting them fall. He needed to be strong for Hailey.

"Blainey!" She exclaimed, running up to him once the teacher dismissed them, "How did you like the rehearsal?" She asked him, jumping into his lap. Blaine laughed, wiping his eyes and hugging her into him, kissing her hair.

"It was awesome, Hails." He assured her, putting her on the floor and placing her skirt and ballet shoes into the pink bag before putting it on his back, holding Hailey's hand as they walked.

"Maybe you can come again next Friday!" Hailey smiled eagerly. Blaine's smile faltered. His heart always broke whenever he left to go back to Dalton. Hailey didn't quite grasp the concept of Dalton and how it's in Ohio on the opposite side of the country and that Blaine has to board there. She always thought when he came home, it was for good and cried when she found out he was leaving again.

"I can't make any promises, kiddo. You know I have to go back to Dalton on Sunday. I have school." Hailey looked up at him, frowning.

"B-b-but Blainey... I-I don't want you to go..." She told him, "Why can't you stay here with me and mommy and daddy? Don't you love us?" Blaine sighed, stopping and kneeling, taking Hailey on his knee.

"Listen to me Hailey, I love you and mommy and daddy so much. I promise you that." Blaine told her, staring straight into her wide, hazel eyes that were filling with tears. "You are one of the most precious things in my life. But I'm not safe going to school in Portland. I which I didn't have to leave, I miss you so much when I'm gone, but I have to. It's for the best. If I had a choice, I wouldn't be living anywhere but here with you, mom and dad here." He wiped the tears that had fallen on to her cheeks with his thumb. "Hey, don't cry. I'll be back before you know it." He tried to smile at her and she took it, smiling back widely. He smiled genuinely this time and kissed her cheek.

"Come on Hails, let's get home." He lifted her into his arms, walking back to the car. "I bet mom is making us the best dinner ever!"


	3. Chapter 3

When Blaine and Hailey arrived at home, the family ate dinner in silence. After dinner, they were sitting down in the living room watching TV when the phone rang. Blaine's mom wen to answer it. After 5 minutes she entered the room with a distraught expression. "Blaine, get your coat that was the doctor." Blaine stopped breathing. Everything happened so fast. He didn't remember anything, just arriving in his doctor's office and sitting on the bed with Hailey once again in his lap, clutching his hands. Dr. Dasilva entered the room with a pitying expression. Blaine felt his blood go cold and heart plummet; he knew what she would say before she even spoke.

"Hello again," She stated, obviously trying to sound like the cheerful doctor she was, "We got the results for the final tests back," She paused, sighing as she bit her lip. "The Leukemia is back." She told them. Blaine's heart stopped. Eyes shut tightly. No. No. No. No. It couldn't be back. He had just gotten a boyfriend, he was one of the most popular guys at school, he had the most amazing little sister and best friends ever. His relationship with his father was slowly, but surely becoming mended. His life was perfect. He couldn't be dying. He just knew that when he told Kurt, the other boy's heart would break. He would have to end their relationship. Relapses were hard to get rid of. Especially multiple relapses. Blaine looked up at to the doctor.

"How long do I have?" He whispered, scared to speak louder.

"We've got it early, as long as you get the treatment straight away, I don't see why you won't beat this thing once more." She told him with a small smile, optimism in her voice. "You're one of the strongest patients I've ever had."

"I can't just leave Dalton." Blaine said, more to himself than anyone else. "I have a life in Ohio. Friends, school, glee club, a job, a-a boyfriend." He stuttered, never having told his parents about Kurt, "I can't just drop everything I have there to come back to Oregon for chemo. Can't I do it there?" Dr. Dasilva smiled slightly at him.

"Of course you can get treatment there, Blaine. But as you remember from your previous treatments, you will miss school for about a week after every instalment of chemo, your hair will fall out, and you will need care around the clock after receiving chemo. You cannot be around anyone who is ill as your immune system will be weakened from the treatment. And you cannot live by yourself. And yes, that includes living in the dorms at your school. Even if you have a roommate, you will need adult supervision, Blaine. But if you want to still go to school there, and your parents are fine with it and you find a way to fulfill all the requirements, I don't see why you can't receive your treatment in Ohio. I can definitely refer you to several good doctors there and a good oncology department over there." She smiled. "When you make a decision, you can call Daisy and I'll set you up with the papers needed for whatever you decide to do." She told them, leaving the room to leave them alone. After a moment, Cassandra turned to her son.

"A boyfriend?" She asked him in a whisper, tears in her eyes. Blaine hesitated before nodding. She let out a small sob. "Oh God, you've finally found someone and now you have to face this again!" She sobbed. He husband hugged her, letting her cry into his chest. He tried to calm her, petting her curly brown hair.

"It's going to be alright, Cassie." He murmured to his wife. He continued swaying her back and forth for a moment. "Blaine, son." He said after a second, looking up at Blaine. "Are you sure you want to receive treatment in Ohio?" He asked him. Blaine didn't hesitate, he just nodded. He was determined to not let this cancer ruin his life for a third time. He would not stop his life just to fight it. He would continue fighting with his friends by his side, continue studying and continue his relationship with Kurt as much as he could. He regretted the last time he fought it. He had been taken out of public school for two years while he fought. He barely saw his friends and by the time it was all over, they had all grown up. He realized he was gay and they had become completely opposed to that realization.

"Okay, we'll figure something out. Maybe we could get an apartment by Dalton and your mother could go live there until you finish chemo. But until then, do you think you might have a friend whose house you can stay at until we figure it all out?" Blaine nodded with a smile; he definitely never thought that his father would be so supportive of his decision to battle cancer in Ohio.

"Y-yeah! I could ask Kurt, or David or maybe Nick. They all live in Ohio and go to Dalton." He said, smiling, knowing that Kurt's family would probably allow him to live there for a while. He couldn't wait to live with his boyfriend, maybe have Kurt taking care of him after his doctor's appointments. He smiled at the daydream.

"Alright, you can call them when we get home and ask. If no one is able to house you for a while, you will remain in Portland until your mother can move out to Ohio with you and Hailey. Alright?" Blaine nodded, smiling, "Oh, and before I forget, there will be no staying at the boyfriend's house, alright?" He said sternly, with a hint of a smile. Blaine's smile faded, just when he thought his father was accepting him.

"But why? C'mon, Kurt's family wouldn't mind." He whined. His dream fading faster than life.

"Because I am your father. And what kind of father would I be if I allowed my son to live at his boyfriend's house?" He smiled, so Blaine would see that he wasn't doing this out of spite. "I remember being a teenager, Blaine. I remember the urges and hormones. I don't oppose your sexuality; I don't oppose your relationship. I may still be on the road to accepting who you are, but I'm okay with you being who you are." Blaine smiled at him, his father was trying and that was all that mattered. He didn't want to die on bad terms with his dad.

"Thanks dad that means a lot." He told his father, hugging him. They went out to the reception desk and got the papers needed for the transfer to Ohio.

When they got home, he called David first, David already knew about Blaine's medical history and it would be easier to ask someone who already knew. Blaine locked himself in his bedroom as the phone rang in his ear.

"Hello?" David picked up. Blaine winced, David sounded half asleep. He checked the time; it was 9 in Ohio... Why would he be sleeping this early on a weekend?

"Hey David, it's Blaine." He said.

"Blaine! Man, to what do I owe the pleasure? How's Portland, dude?" David asked, sounding fully awake now.

"I can't wait to leave." Blaine groaned. David clicked his tongue in sympathy.

"That bad, huh? What's up, man? Is it your dad again?" David knew everything about Blaine and his issues with his father. Blaine sighed, lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling before speaking once more.

"No, dad's actually trying really hard." Blaine informed him. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "I actually need a favour, and I need you to hear me out, kay man?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course Blaine. What is it?" David said, sounding positive that he'd help Blaine no matter what the favour was. Blaine smirked; he was tempted to ask something stupid and dirty as a joke, but stopped himself before he could.

"I was wondering if I could stay at your house for a bit." He said after a moment of pondering how to ask it.

"Sure! But why? And how long?" David asked, sounding a bit confused.

"I- You can't tell anyone this aside from your family, alright?" Blaine said, anxious.

"I promise Blaine, you know me. What is it?"

"The cancers back, David." He said. Blaine heard his friend suck in a deep breath on the other line before he spoke again. "I'm doing chemo in Ohio, but I'm not allowed to stay in the dorms because I'll need around the clock care and can't be around illness. It'll just be until mom and Hailey can get moved out here to take care of me."

"Oh my goodness," David muttered after moment of silence. "I-I can't believe this is happening. Why the hell does it always have to be you?" David said angrily, Blaine heard the unmistakable sound of something hitting a wall. "Of course you can stay here, Blaine. My parents would be happy to have you. We'll pick you up at the airport. Just text me your flight details later." They exchanged their goodbyes before Blaine hung up and threw his phone somewhere before sighing and shutting his eyes. He'd worry about packing in the morning, right now he just needed some shuteye.


	4. Chapter 4

"Blaine freaking Anderson! It's been too long!" David's older brother, Cameron said when they went to pick up Blaine from the airport Sunday afternoon. Blaine laughed, hugging him.

"It's been like, 3 months, Cam." He reminded him with a chuckle, letting the older boy out of the hug. Cameron laughed and rolled his eyes in response.

"Cameron, quit harassing the poor kid." Mrs. Keyes said to her eldest son sternly. She turned to Blaine with her naturally caring, motherly gaze, "Hi sweetie, as much as I wish it wasn't under these circumstances, it's nice to see you again." Blaine smiled at the woman who had quickly become like a second mom to him since his transfer to Dalton the prior year. She enveloped him in a tight embrace in which he sighed and let himself relax into before letting go.

"Same to you, Mrs. Keyes. Thank you for allowing me to stay at your house for the time being. My parents told me to give you this," He told her, handing her a wrapped present. She gave him a confused look, taking the gift anyway, "It's a thank you present." He explained, "They also told me to give you our home phone number and my dad's work number. My mom's a designer so she works from home. They said to call them whenever you need to." He told the woman. She smiled at the boy

"This is very generous, Blaine. Of course we'll call them if anything happens. Let's just get you home now so you can rest. I bet that trip was tiring for you." She said, and with that they all went out to the Keyes car, Blaine's lone bag in the trunk before they went to Dalton so he, David and Cameron could pack up his dorm.

Blaine only had his uniform, some pyjamas, a gym bag that held his gym clothes, soccer, lacrosse, rugby and fencing uniform, a couple of jeans, some shirts and sweaters, an alarm clock, some DVD's and CD's and a stereo/iPod dock in his room. He had taken his school bag and books to Oregon with him and they were already in the car. He filled a satchel he had in his closet with his toiletries and threw on a scarf and navy blue beanie before he said goodbye to his dorm room.

Two hours after arriving in Ohio, Blaine was settled in at the Keyes' residence's basement. David's parents had informed him that the basement was under his control and he could do as he pleased. It was an apartment they usually rented out, luckily when Blaine asked for a place to stay, they were between tenants so he could live there. They gave him a key to the door that lead from the basement to the backyard and then let him move his stuff in.

He had a bedroom with gray walls, a large closet and a dresser and desk in it. He dropped his guitar in a free corner. There was a living room outside the bedroom and a small kitchenette with a round table and four chairs around it. There was a bathroom linked to the living room and a storage closet beside the stairs that lead to the main floor. Blaine unpacked his clothes and hygiene products before lying down on his new bed with his phone in his hand, fingers playing with the keys as he contemplated whether or not to open a new blank text. He would have to tell Kurt soon. He was starting chemo that Thursday, Kurt would notice when he didn't show up to school for a week and when he did return, him having pale, weak stance and slight cold. But he didn't want to tell him over the phone; that would be cruel to Kurt, no matter how much easier it would make it on Blaine. The sighed as he clicked Kurt's name, thumb about to press the call button.

"Blaine" David said, knocking on the open door. Blaine jumped out of his stupor. "Dinner's ready if you're hungry. Wes is over, too." Blaine nodded and mumbled that he'd be up in a few minutes; he just had to text his mom. David left after Blaine ensured he would come up to dinner. Blaine mentally thanked the other boy as he texted his mom. He would have called Kurt and told him right then and there if he hadn't interrupted and really, that wouldn't have been the best idea.

Dinner passed with both David and Wes trying to get their best friend out of his funk. Blaine laughed half-heartedly at their jokes and finally, close to the end of dinner, asked them to stop trying to make him feel better. "I'm just not in the mood to be happy when I still have to tell people about... this." He couldn't even say the word, couldn't say that he had _cancer_. How was he supposed to tell Kurt that he might die when he couldn't even think the words in his mind, let alone speak them out loud? Luckily, his friends didn't fight him on it and they stopped trying to cheer him up.

As soon as he was given the okay, Blaine jogged back down to the basement and watched TV until he fell asleep on the couch. The following day was Monday and school was starting again. Blaine had another sleepless night, waking up an hour after he fell asleep to turn off the television and drag his feet to his bedroom before tossing and turning for several more hours until his alarm went off at 6. Somewhere along the way of trying (and failing) to fall asleep, he had pulled his laptop on to his bed and started working on editing a song on it for his sound production class.

He finished getting ready in 15 minutes as usual, giving him time to lounge around in the living room of the apartment and watching morning cartoons while drinking his morning coffee and a bowl of cereal that had been in the cupboard of his kitchen. He hastily threw his winter jacket on over his blazer and scarf before filling his reusable water bottle with fresh ice water and heading upstairs with his school bag. David smiled at him as he entered the kitchen, dropping his bay on the floor.

"Morning, Blaine." He said, stuffing his mouth full of eggs. Blaine waved at his friend softly before standing awkwardly in the doorway

"Hey David. When are we leaving for school?" He asked his friend shyly as David drank the rest of his milk, wiping his mouth on his school cardigan's sleeve.

"Well, if we want to get there so you can keep up appearances and be at breakfast we should leave now. Or we can wait 10 minutes and get there right before morning announcements at 7:30." David informed him, leaving the option up to him. Blaine shrugged.

"I kinda wanna talk to Kurt before classes start, so can we go now?" Blaine asked timidly. David nodded, standing from his chair. He clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder before going to brush his teeth and grab his bag.

They arrived at school just behind Kurt's navigator. Blaine saw Kurt park in his usual spot beside the dorm that used to be Blaine's and get out after a moment heading to the dorm's front entrance to no doubt go get Blaine for breakfast. Blaine jumped out of the car and ran to Kurt, hugging him from behind, he felt Kurt jump in surprise and go rigid when he didn't let go.

"Morning Kurt," Blaine mumbled into his neck, kissing the younger boy's neck. Kurt turned to face Blaine with a confused expression.

"Blaine? Why aren't you in your dorm?" He asked, twining a hand in Blaine's scarf. Blaine sighed, allowing Kurt to use his hold on it to pull him closer.

"I have to talk to you, Kurt. About something important that I should've told you when we started dating, but I didn't." Kurt gave him an even more confused expression, which was now mixed him concern for the nervousness that Blaine had been omitting. Kurt moved closer, a gentle hand carressing Blaine's cheek in a loving gesture.

"You can tell me anything, B. You know that, right?" Blaine nodded and grabbed Kurt's hand in his, kissing his palm before intertwining their fingers together.

"I do," He responded, kissing Kurt's wrist reassuringly before dropping their hands between their bodies. "This is just, a hard thing to tell someone." Blaine laughed dryly, reaching his free hand behind his head to scratch at his neck. He looked around uncomfortably before he spoke again. "Can we go somewhere private?" He asked, sounding almost like a child with the way he sounded so vulnerable and scared

"Sure," Kurt told him, squeezing his hand in reassurance, "Is your dorm available?" He asked, motioning to the building behind them. Blaine shook his head, biting his lip.

"I don't live there anymore, I moved out yesterday." Kurt got even more confused, furrowing his brow. Blaine kissed his cheek. "It'll all make sense once I tell you what I have to tell you." Kurt nodded as Blaine pulled him back to his car and they sat in the back seat, just holding each other.

"What is it, B?" Kurt mumbled, playing with Blaine's jacket. Blaine took a deep breath, snuggling into Kurt's body.

"You're my best friend, Kurt," He mumbled into his chest, "Please, never forget that. Ever. I don't know what I would do without you." He said, he snuggled closer, kissing his boyfriend's blazer clad chest. "I just... If something bad happens to me, I need you to know that I care about you and don't want to see you sad or hurt. And if I'm not around to make you happy anymore, I need you to find someone else who will make you as happy as you are right now. Please promise me you'll do that if it comes down to that." Kurt lifted Blaine chin so he was look into his hazel eyes that were now full of tears and an emotion that could only be pain and suffering.

"Blaine, you're scaring me. Why are you talking like you're about to die?" Blaine sobbed, gripping Kurt's blazer and dropping his hand to his boyfriend's shoulder. "Blaine?" Kurt said when Blaine didn't continue, "Blaine, what is it? What do you have to tell me? Are you sick?" Blaine shook his head, crying a bit more, biting down on his lip.

"I-" A sob wrecked his body when he glanced at Kurt's face and he couldn't continue. Kurt rubbed small circles into his back, trying to comfort the crying boy in his arms by cooing at him gently and humming random nonsense of notes that sounded pretty together.

"You can tell me." Kurt mumbled after a moment when Blaine had calmed a bit, kissing his temple in an attempt to calm him some more. Blaine sniffled before sucking in a deep breath, and finally, he spoke.

"When I was two, I started losing a lot of weight, getting really tired, and not eating. I would get tons of bruises and cuts that no one knew how I got, my bones and joints were hurting so badly, I got to the point I would cry my eyes out because of it, my skin was blotched with red and white spots, I always had a fever and I was anaemic." Blaine stopped for a moment, collecting his breath before continuing as Kurt rubbed his back and hummed on, letting him know it was okay to continue.

"My parents got scared, they didn't know what was going on and they took me to the hospital. I had to stay there for about 2 weeks and after they had my fever down and I was somewhat stable, they were about to release me when they got the results for my blood tests back. I had way too many white blood cells and not enough red ones and there was something extremely abnormal about my bone marrow. So they did more tests and they found out I had ALL Leukemia." Blaine took another shaky breath before snuggling his face into Kurt's neck, sneaking out the warmth of his boyfriend's skin.

"L-leukemia?" Kurt sputtered out, leaning back a bit to try and look at Blaine's face. All that cause was Blaine to lean in more and strengthen his hold on Kurt's waist. "Y-you... Leukemia?" He repeated, he shook his head. "_Oh my God_," He whispered, clutching at his boyfriend harder. He hadn't realized how lucky he was to have this boy in his arms right now. He could have been gone. Not alive right now. He could never have met this incredibly talented man. "I-I'm so glad I met you, Blaine. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." He said, kissing Blaine's gelled hair. "I will never take you for granted ever again." He mumbled, squeezing Blaine.

"Kurt, I can't breathe." Blaine mumbled, chuckling softly. Kurt lightened his grip on the older boy a bit.

"Sorry." Kurt said, blushing. "I just... I might never have met you. You could have... have... before I met you and I would never have been able to hug you, or go out for coffee with you, or sing with you, or kiss you, or hold you in my arms and just be with you. I can't imagine my life without you, even so early in our relationship." Kurt said, tears falling from his eyes. Blaine shut his eyes, laying his head weakly on Kurt's shoulder.

"I'm relapsing, Kurt." He said in a broken whisper. Kurt hugged his boyfriend tighter into his chest, laying his chin on his head. Letting a silent sob fall from his lips and he tried to stay strong for the beautiful boy who was falling apart in his arms. He felt a sob wreck the smaller boy's frame and his hands gripped Kurt's blazer.

"Sh, it's gonna be okay." Kurt whispered, reassuringly. He rubbed circles into Blaine's back as he tried to hold back his own tears, "I'm here. We'll get through this, Blaine. You have to."


	5. Chapter 5

The two boys ended up missing their morning classes, Kurt taking Blaine off campus to a nearby cafe to get something in his stomach and help calm him down. Since Kurt usually got breakfast at Dalton with Blaine, he also had something to eat and they sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other in the silence of the nearly empty cafe.

"When did you find out?" Kurt asked, breaking the silence on the drive back to school for third period, which they both happened to have together.

"Wha-? Oh, Friday morning," Blaine told him, toying with his jacket sleeve. "After I got off the computer with you, I kinda had a bit of a freak out and my mom came into my room. She said I had a fever and I just told her I was getting a cold and she flipped, she took me to the doctor after I ate almost nothing for breakfast. I had some blood tests and the results came back positive for ALL. It's my second relapse. The first being when I was 10." Blaine paused, looking up at Kurt when he rested a hand on Blaine's. Kurt's eyes were wide and full of something that Blaine couldn't place. It urged Blaine to go on.

"My parents took me out of school and told me to focus of getting better. I was out for two years and when I came back; my friends were two grades above me and in middle school while I was stuck in the fifth grade. It was around that time that I came out and they hated gays. I don't know, I guess it was the fact I went to a Catholic private school. When I finally got to high school with them, they were in grade eleven and they just kept giving me crap until they beat me up after some dance and I transferred to Dalton..." Blaine sighed, licking his lips before continuing.

"I didn't want to stop my life again for this. I couldn't just leave everything I have here in Ohio. I couldn't leave you, or Dalton, or my friends, or my job or school. I regretted not continuing my life the last time I fought this and I don't want to feel that way again if I win, 'cause it won't feel like winning. It'll still feel like the cancer won. And if I don't make it," Blaine broke off, voice cracking as tears fell. He cleared his throat before continuing, "If I don't make it, I would hate myself for not living my life out for the last whatever amount of time I have left. I would regret not making the most of my time here... My time with you." He stopped, shutting his eyes and laying his head on the window. A moment later, he felt Kurt's warm hand gripping his and giving it a kiss.

"You're strong. So much stronger than me and I hate seeing you like this. It's like you've already let the cancer win. It's like you're just ready to die. Please promise me you'll fight your hardest. Please, Blaine. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you when I only just found you." Blaine took a shaky breath, opening his eyes to see they were at Dalton already; he glanced at Kurt who had unshed tears. Blaine planted a sweet, chaste kiss on Kurt's cheek.

"I promise." Blaine told him.

The two boyfriends walked into their Latin class, Blaine being in an advanced placement grade 10 class, Kurt being in the same seeing as he had never studied the language before. Their teacher, Ms. Wellington, smiled at them as they took their assigned seats in the third row, beside each other. Blaine stiffened when she walked up to him with a concerned smile and a familiar orange sheet of paper.

"Mrs. Cochrane sent this down." She told him gently, slipping the sheet on his binder, "She said she'd like to see you in her office. You're excused from the test, seeing as you already ace my class. But if you feel the need to still do it, you can come by at 6, I'll be here." Blaine nodded, taking the sheet.

"Okay Ms. Wellington." He told her weakly, she walked away as he read the sheet.

**Name:** Blaine Anderson  
**Faculty Member:** Mrs. Cochrane  
**Room:** G01  
**Building:** Guidance Building  
**Time:** Right away  
**Priority:** High Medium Low

Blaine sighed, folding the paper before stuffing it into his blazer pocket, putting his books his bag as he walked out of the room, placing a hand on Kurt's shoulder as he passed, whispering good luck on his test. Blaine wrapped his scarf around his neck as he stepped out of the languages building and started walking towards the administrative buildings near the centre of campus. He quickly slipped into the guidance building and jogged over to his guidance counsellor's office on the first floor.

"Ah, Blaine! Hello, come on in!" She said warmly, inviting the Warbler in. Blaine smiled slightly at the 50-year-old woman, shutting the door behind me. She waited for him to sit on one of the chairs in her office before she spoke again. "So I got a call from your mother this morning." Blaine sighed, shutting his eyes. He knew where this was going.

The woman walked over to him, sitting in the chair beside his and grabbing his hands in hers, "Are you okay, sweetie? How are you coping?" He shrugged, opening his eyes.

"It's not like I haven't gone through this before." He mumbled, "I'm just glad I'm still in Ohio and at Dalton." Mrs. Cochrane nodded.

"I just wanted to tell you, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here, okay?" She assured him, patting his hand lightly. "I'll be sure to collect your work for the week following your chemo treatments and send it home with David Keyes until your mother comes, after that, I guess w-"

"No, don't send it with David," He interrupted. Mrs. Cochrane gave him a confused look, "send it with Kurt." He whispered, not meeting her eyes. The woman paused, calculating the teenager.

"Why Kurt?" She finally asked after a moment. Blaine sighed, lifting a hand to scratch his neck for a second.

"He's my boyfriend." Blaine told her, his voice light. She nodded slightly.

"Okay, I'll send it with Kurt." She informed him with a small smile, "I'll also inform your teachers of your situation and when your chemo appointments are so they are aware. If you ever feel unwell and want to leave, just tell your teacher and they'll send someone with you to came to my office and you can wait here until someone comes to pick you up. Or if it's drastic, we'll send you to the student health building." She stopped, taking his orange slip and signing it with her signature and the time. "Good luck with everything, Blaine." She told him with a smile as he walked out of the office. He paused, smiling warily back at her.

"Thank you."

Blaine had quietly slipped into his Latin class again, but his teacher told him to take the rest of the period off since he was excused from the test. He thanked her and quickly darted his eyes to where Kurt was sitting at his desk, his hand to his forehead and face crumpled in adorable confusion. He smiled slightly, "Can I just slip Kurt a note so he can read it after he finishes his test?" Ms. Wellington pursed her lips, thinking. Blaine gave her his trademark puppy eyes and she sighed, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

"Do whatever you want, Blaine. I'm not paying attention." She told him, sitting back at her desk. He smiled and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a short and sweet note on it before going to Kurt's desk and sticking it on his binder that was in the desk. Kurt looked up with confusion on his face.

"Blaine?" He whispered. The boy shushed him with a finger to his lips.

"Sh, just good luck on your test. You're going to ace it." He whispered before kissing his forehead and leaving. When Blaine got out of the building, he pulled his blazer closer to his body as the cold wind made him shiver. He had 45 minutes before his next class began. He quickly decided to run to the student area of the campus where the dorms were. That part of campus was like a small town for the boarders. There were 3 houses that were occupied at the moment, 2 others being shut down until next September for renovations, there was the library and cafe across from the main parking lot of the Dorms area. Also in the living area was the student after hours dining hall that served breakfast and dinner, and lunches on the weekends. Blaine quickly slipped into the library, finding a quiet corner in the reading section and sat on one of the comfortable arm chairs they had there. He shut his eyes and only opened them when he heard the three loud beeps over the PA, declaring that third period had just ended and fourth would start in 5 minutes. Blaine grunted, getting up to go to his next class.

"Hey you," Kurt called, spotting Blaine exiting his class at the end of the day. They didn't have the same lunch period since they were in separate grades. Blaine turned and smiled as he saw Kurt jogging up to greet him. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist and kissed his cheek softly before pulling away and just holding his hand.

"Hey Kurt, how was your day?" Blaine asked, holding Kurt's hand tightly as they exited the building and started the long walk to the Music building. Kurt smiled at his boyfriend, laying his head on his shoulder.

"It was great," He told him. "There was this guy who left a little note on my binder in Latin. I was doing a test though, so I didn't see who it was that put it there." Kurt pouted, extending his bottom lip out in a dramatic way. "It was so sweet. Too bad you hadn't been there, maybe you couldn't caught the culprit." Kurt teased. Blaine chuckled and playfully pushed Kurt's side with his hip.

"Hush you," He responded with a slight blush. Kurt looked up at him with a grin and kissed Blaine's small pout lightly.

"Seriously though, that note was really sweet, Blaine. Thank you." Kurt told him with sincerity in his voice. Blaine blushed some more.

"It's my job to be the cheesy, dapper boyfriend. You're the stubborn, sassy, intellectual one." He responded. Kurt scoffed.

"_I'm_ smart? I'm not the one who's passing all my classes, which are all AP, by the way, with 95's." Kurt said. Blaine blushed even more, if it was possible. He hated when people brought up his IQ. Sure he was smart for someone in his grade, he was pretty smart for someone his own age even, but that didn't stop him from still being a sophomore.

"Shut up." Blaine mumbled half-heartedly. Kurt giggled and squeezed his hand.

"Fine, you can be the cheesy, dapper, sexy one. I'll just be the stubborn, sassy, dull one." Blaine hit him again with his hip and a small smile on his face. The couple giggled and joked their entire way to rehearsal.


	6. Chapter 6

Blaine found himself at Kurt's house that night with his school books opened all over the floor of his bedroom. Kurt was sitting at his desk, working on an essay for his history class. There was the soft thrum of music playing from his laptop speakers as the two worked in comfortable silence, occasionally singing along with whatever song was playing.

Blaine found his mind wandering often as he did all his homework without any issues. He was blessed with intelligence. So much, he had been hoping to take some courses over the summer so he would be able to skip a grade the following year, being able to graduate the same time as Kurt and only a year behind the people his own age. But this whole thing screwed that up.

His mind drifted to the following Thursday. What was going to happen? He'd already been through chemo before, so he knew what to expect. But he didn't know if he was ready to go through it all again. Would he be able to continue on the Warblers or the soccer, lacrosse, rugby and fencing teams at Dalton? Would he be too ill to go on dates with his gorgeous boyfriend? Would he have to drop out of Dalton part way through chemo because he couldn't keep up with the heavy curriculum? What if he didn't survive? Would the treatment take even after his body had been given it two times on separate occasions? Blaine didn't even notice that he was shaking and quietly sobbing until Kurt pulled him into his arms and began cooing in his ear, rubbing soothing circles in his back.

"Sh, calm down, okay, B?" Kurt whispered, kissing Blaine's forehead as he swayed back and forth with his boyfriend in his arms. Blaine let out a loud sob and wrapped his trembling arms around Kurt's stomach, squeezing him as his nose nuzzled into Kurt's neck. Kurt shivered slightly at the feeling of Blaine's wet nose on his skin before pushing the feeling aside. "I'm here, everything's gonna be alright. I promise." Kurt said, going to play with Blaine's gelled hair. "How about we go see if Carole needs help with dinner, huh? That will help get your mind off everything, right?" Blaine nodded, kissing Kurt's neck before pulling away.

The older boy wiped his wet, bloodshot eyes on his shirt sleeve before standing. Kurt looked at his boyfriend's face. He had tear tracks down his tear stained cheeks and his hazel eyes were rimmed with red, his pupils extremely dilated. His eyes shone with unshed tears. Kurt stood from the floor and went over to shut off his computer before grabbing Blaine's hand and leading him downstairs.

"Hey Carole, do you need any help?" Kurt asked the woman, standing on the side of the kitchen watching her run around the kitchen to make their dinner. Carole sighed, looking up for a second before looking back at what she was doing.

"That would be great, Kurt. But I don't want to keep you and Blaine from your studies." She told him, breaking off pieces of dough before rolling them and placing them on a cookie sheet.

"We're taking a break." Kurt informed him, rubbing circles into Blaine's hand with his thumb. "Blaine got a bit overwhelmed." Carole looked up at the boys, frowning. It was obvious that she knew Blaine and that he normally zoomed through his school work, never batting an eye at it. Sometimes even complaining that it was too easy. The work was more a formality with Blaine; everyone knew that, even the faculty at Dalton. He was never overwhelmed by it. If anything, he would be overwhelmed by thoughts that would enter his mind while doing said school work. Carole noticed Blaine's puffy eyes and immediately stopped making the rolls and walked over to him.

"Honey, are you okay?" She asked him, deeply concerned. In the last couple of months since she met this boy, he had become like a third son to her. And when he and Kurt began dating not too long ago, she had embraced him with open arms. "You can tell me what's wrong." She said, pushing a curl from his forehead that had escaped the gel. Blaine sniffled, looking at the ground, moving away of her touch. Carole was shocked to say the least. Normally Blaine would smile at her affections, embrace it even.

"I don't think he wants to talk about it right now." Kurt informed his step-mother, speaking for Blaine "Can we help you?" He asked again. She nodded, still looking at Blaine.

"Of course you can, boys." She said, trying to smile to make Blaine more comfortable. "I'm going to finish up with the rolls and you two can get everything ready for the turkey skillet. The recipe is on the cork board." Kurt nodded.

"How about you get the recipe, Blaine, okay? We can get everything ready together." Blaine nodded, walking over to the board that was behind the fridge. He took the white sheet of paper that said 'MOROCCAN TURKEY SKILLET' on it and walked over to where Kurt was standing by the island. "So what do we need?" Kurt asked him. Blaine sighed, glancing over the ingredients.

Blaine read out the ingredients before he scratched his head. "Can we use apricots instead of raisins? I'm allergic." He asked Carole. The woman smiled at the boy and nodded.

"Of course we can, sweetie. We wouldn't want to get you sick." She said, tuning back to where he was preparing the rolls. Blaine nodded, biting his lip as him and Kurt focused on making the meal. After a few minutes, Blaine forgot that he was even upset. He and Kurt always had fun while cooking together, even before the two began dating. Kurt would force him to come over to his house and they would make dinner together, or lunch on the weekends. They would always make too much and Kurt would make Blaine take the leftovers back with him so that he would have food to eat when he got hungry at Dalton. Carole put the rolls in the oven and watched her step-son and his boyfriend playing around while making the meal. She smiled before slipping out, leaving a note to tell them she went to the corner store to buy some drinks and some dessert.

Kurt watched as Blaine put the last of the ingredients on to the skillet. He couldn't help but imagine where Blaine would be a couple years down the road, in his own home, making dinner for himself after class. Kurt let him watch the skillet while he prepared some green beans to steam and rice and beans to eat with the skillet. Once the food was done, the rolls ready as well, Carole entered the house again with her groceries, Finn in tow, helping her carry the bags to the kitchen. Carole smiled, seeing Blaine and Kurt setting the table with keeping up conversation about how somebody was better at portraying a character than another person. Blaine was arguing for the 'underdog', a guy to succeeded the other in playing said part on Broadway, but had less ticket sales, whereas Kurt liked the other man, who was a 'Broadway legend' and sold out every show he performed in during his run. Carole shook her head with a affectionate smile. If this had been anyone else fighting Blaine's side, Kurt would have had their head. But he was clearly just bantering, giving his boyfriend a teasing smile during the entire encounter.

They all ate dinner together, Burt having called for them to go on without him because he needed to stay at the shop late. Something about a costumer coming in early tomorrow to pick up his car and he needed to finish it. It didn't escape Carole's attention that Blaine, who usually ate as much as Finn, if not more, had only put a spoonful of the skillet on his plate and a couple of beans. She didn't say anything though as he moved the food around on his plate, taking a bite every few minutes. When it was 7, Blaine stood up, his food barely finished.

"I should get going." He told him, with an apologetic smile. "I have to get up early tomorrow for a rugby tournament. But thank you for dinner." He smiled at the group, passing Kurt, brushing his hand on his boyfriend's back. Kurt got the hint and stood from his seat with a small smile to his family.

"I'll be right back." Kurt excused himself, following Blaine up to his room. He quietly shut the door behind him as Blaine began putting his books into his school bag. "What's up?" Kurt asked, leaning against the door. Blaine looked up for a second before sitting on the edge of the bed, sighing.

"Can you... Can you not tell them yet?" Blaine said simply, Kurt knew what he was talking about without him elaborating. "I want to do it later, when I'm not still in shock and know I won't break down if I said the words out loud again." Kurt nodded, sitting beside Blaine, placing a hand on Blaine's lower back.

"You're the strongest person I know, Blaine." He told him, laying his chin on Blaine's shoulder. "Take all the time you need." Blaine sighed, squeezing an arm around Kurt's waist.

"I have to go if I want to get the David's house at a reasonable time." Blaine muttered, obviously not wanting to leave. He turned his head and pecked Kurt on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay? I'll bring you coffee." He told him, his hazel eyes boring into Kurt's ice blue ones. Kurt nodded, smiling at Blaine.

"I'll see you then. Drive safely okay?" Blaine smiled back, one of the few genuine smiles he's had since Friday. Come to think of it, all of them were because of Kurt.

"Always." He whispered. Kurt and Blaine went down the stairs and to the front door, Kurt waving as Blaine drove down the street. Kurt sighed, shutting the door before returning to the dining room and sitting down. He glanced up at Carole's curious face.

Finn raised an eyebrow, but Kurt didn't say anything. He just continued eating as if Blaine had never been there, and like there had been no interruption in his meal.

"Kurt, is something wrong with Blaine?" Carole asked when they were doing the dishes after dinner. Kurt sighed, drying a plate quickly before dropping the cloth on it.

"Trust me Carole; everything is under control with Blaine. Don't worry." Kurt said, trying not to outright lie, but wanting to keep his promise to Blaine. Carole sighed, turning to her step-son.

"Kurt, I know you teenagers think you can conquer everything alone, but that's not always true. He looked really distracted and ill. You boys need to confine in _someone_. You never know who may be able to help Blaine in whatever he's going through right now." She told him. Kurt bit his lip, he knew that this was something they couldn't face alone, and Blaine knew it too. But they weren't keeping it from people, Blaine just wasn't ready to make it that much more real by telling Kurt's family.

"I promise, Blaine will explain it all when he's ready. He's just going through a lot at the moment." Kurt assured her, he quickly finished drying the last cup before turning to Carole, "I'm gonna go upstairs now. Blaine and I have a Skype date." He told her and jogged away quickly, leaving his step-mother in a confused haze staring after him.


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt had lied, well, not entirely. He and Blaine _did_have a Skype date planned for that night, but Blaine had literally left his house ten minutes prior. It would take a good hour and a half for him to arrive at the Keyes' home in the outskirts of Westerville. Kurt just needed to be alone. He needed to think. He needed to let go. He needed to cry, and so he did.

For the first time since Blaine gave him the news that morning, Kurt was finally alone. He shut the door to his bedroom, locking it as he slid down it slowly; his vision blurring. He sniffed, tears streaming down his face as he cried silently. _Why Blaine?_ He thought repeatedly, mumbling nonsense to himself. Why Blaine? Why not Kurt? Why did it have to be cancer? Why Leukemia, of all cancers? Why couldn't it be as easy as taking him to surgery, taking out a tumour and giving him a few rounds of chemo and radiation to be sure that the cancer was gone? Why couldn't life be simple? Why can't they be teenagers? Why can't Blaine _catch a break?_

Kurt let out a frustrated sob before dragging himself to his bed and crying into his pillow. It felt like only a second when Kurt heard his phone ringing from where it was in his pants pocket. He sniffled, cleaned his eyes on his uniform shirt sleeve. He hadn't changed when he and Blaine had come home after rehearsal. He pulled his phone out and cleared his throat when Blaine's picture smiled back at him.

"Blaine, hey." Kurt winced as he spoke. His voice was hoarse and you could definitely tell he had been crying.

"Kurt? Are you okay? Are you crying?" Blaine asked, concerned. His smile dropping into a worried frown, hands stilling where he had been making tea.

"I'm fine; don't worry about me, Blaine." Kurt assured him, sitting up against his headboard, getting comfortable. "Did you get home safe?" He asked his boyfriend with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm just making some tea to settle my stomach and then we can Skype, alright?" Blaine said, putting the mug full of water in the microwave to heat. "I just couldn't wait to hear your voice." Blaine's stomach fluttered as he spoke. Their relationship was still new, only having gotten together two weeks ago; he always got nervous when he said little things like that.

On the other side of the line, Kurt's breath caught. He was always thrown when Blaine said things like that, things that reminded him, 'Hey, Blaine's your _boyfriend_ now. He can say things like that'. It never failed to make him flush a deep shade of red and giggle nervously. "God you have to stop saying things like that, B. You're gonna make my heart stop one day from beating too fast." He breathed out in a joking tone. Blaine chuckled lightly before speaking.

"I won't. I _can't_ stop, Kurt. You're my boyfriend. You deserve all the flattery in the world. And it's _my_ job to do it. Plus, you're beautiful when you blush." Blaine told him seriously as he threw away the bag of his tea.

"I hate you right now." Kurt mumbled as he blushed harder. Blaine laughed, moving towards his bedroom.

"Oh, that's not the message I got Thursday after rehearsal in the senior commons when you were under me on the couch." Blaine said. Kurt blanched. Oh my God, how could Blaine just bring that up?

"B-Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed, Blaine started laughing at his boyfriend's reaction, "You can't just say stuff like that!" He hissed through the phone. Now he kept thinking back to Thursday, the two of them had stayed in the common room after rehearsal to talk a bit before Blaine had to leave to catch his flight back home. They had started off cuddling on the couch and just chatting with little kisses in between words and giggles. Kurt had gotten a bit bold and deepened one of the kisses, which led to some shifting on the couch, Blaine ending up on top of him and before he knew it, they were making out.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me that you haven't thought about it since." Blaine said, turning on his laptop. "I know _I_ have. And I'd love to do it again." Kurt groaned, hiding his face in his pillow as he blushed even though Blaine couldn't see him.

"Of course I've thought about it, Blaine." Kurt hissed, "But why do you have to bring it up right now? Why do we have to talk about it at all? We both liked it, there was evidence enough of that on Thursday, that's all we need to know. We want to do it again? Great, we will. Just... No talking about it _over the phone_." Blaine sighed as Kurt spoke.

"Fine, whatever you say, Kurt." He said, sipping his tea and Skype loaded on his computer. "I'm gonna hang up now and we can continue this on the computer." Kurt sighed, saying goodbye before running over to turn on his laptop, bringing it over to his bed before settling under his covers.

After a few minutes, Kurt's Skype was ringing, alerting him that Blaine was calling him. He smiled, clicking the accept button. "Hey, long time no see." He teased. Blaine stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend before drinking some more tea.

"Shut it, Hummel. You should feel blessed I'm even talking to you." He joked, sticking his nose in the air. Kurt laughed, shaking his head at his boyfriend's antics.

"You're insane, Blaine Anderson." He sighed fondly. Blaine just grinned at him through the screen. Kurt couldn't help but feel like this was a glimpse into their future when he would be in New York while Blaine finished high school at Dalton. They would talk over Skype, joking together and Kurt would make Blaine laugh and smile. But that might not happen; he was reminded when Blaine started having a coughing fit part way through their conversation. Blaine might not make it that far, and Kurt felt his heart break a bit at that realization. It was still so early in their relationship and yet he already couldn't imagine his life without Blaine. Even before they became boyfriends, Blaine was always in his future. Blaine was always there.

"Kurt? Kurt, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Blaine asked worriedly. Kurt brought a hand up to his face, wiping under his eyes, and surely enough there was moisture there. He sniffed, wiping away the tears.

"I'm fine, B. Don't worry about me. Just tell me about when your treatment starts; I wanna be there at least the first time you go in." Kurt said, shooting Blaine a smile he tried hard to keep on his face. Blaine paused, giving his boyfriend an uncertain look, obviously seeing past his facade before he sighed.

"I'll be at school for first and second period on Thursday, but then I'm leaving and getting a bone marrow transplant. Luckily, when someone gets cancer the first time around and needs a transplant of any kind, they keep them on the database and update their matches in case they relapse, one of my matches is from Toledo, they're coming down Wednesday and I go in Thursday at 2, but I need to be in prep before then. I start chemo Friday; I'll be out of school for a week." Blaine told Kurt, his face going serious from his normally smiley face. Kurt nodded, adverting his eyes away from the camera and the screen, avoiding Blaine's emotion-filled eyes.

"Kurt," Blaine said softly after a moment, his voice made Kurt wince. He sounded so _young_, so... So vulnerable, _sick_. "Kurt, please look at me." Blaine pleaded. Kurt sighed softly, looking up and locking eyes with his boyfriend. "You have to tell me if you get uncomfortable or overly emotional and want to stop talking about this. I know how overwhelming it can get." Kurt took a deep breath, a single tear falling from his eyes.

"I promise I will, if it comes to that. I just want to be involved in this whole process." Kurt told him truthfully. "I want to know what's going on with you and your life. I _need_ to know what's happening with you and how treatment is going and if you're feeling off. I want to be the person you tell when your hair first starts falling out, the person who holds your hand while you're getting your treatment, the person who you don't have to _pretend_ around. I don't want you to feel like you have to hide your feelings about being sick around me, your feelings about anything, alright? This trust thing goes two ways." Blaine licked his lips and nodded.

"I know, and I promise that you're going to be that person I go to when things get difficult, but only if you can handle it." Both boys know had tears in their eyes, hazel on ice blue through the computer screen. "I've seen far too many people drown in their feelings because a loved one is in my position and they literally do everything for that person. You know what happens to those people, Kurt? They break. They break so badly and they break into a million little pieces. They bury their feelings deep down and put their loved one before themselves, they get sick and depressed and if that person they're close with _dies_ they fall apart. I can't have that happen to you, Kurt. You're too important to me." Kurt let out a deep breath, trying to steady the tears that began to fall.

"You have to stop being so selfless, Blaine." Kurt mumbled, wiping his eyes free of tears. Blaine gave him an incredulous look. Kurt felt like his entire body was on fire, everything heightened as Blaine spoke as if he were going to _die_. That wasn't going to happen, Kurt wouldn't _let_ that happen. Not to _his _Blaine. "You're going to be sick before you get better and I'm going to be there to bring you soup after my classes are done for the day. I'm going to be there to rub your back when you're having an off day. I swear to you Blaine, I'm going to do everything to make this as easy on you as possible." Blaine chuckled lightly with a fond smile

"I should let you go, you're probably really tired." Kurt told him when the chuckle turned into a cough. Blaine looked up after taking a sip of his tea; his eyes looked slightly pained, not wanting to stop talking to Kurt. "Blaine, just go to bed, alright? I'll see you tomorrow at school, be there at our usual time, I'll bring the coffee." Blaine smiled at him, suddenly looking extremely tired. Kurt frowned, realizing that Blaine had probably been tired this entire time, keeping up an act so Kurt wouldn't worry about him.

"Make that a candy-cane white hot chocolate and I will give you the biggest kiss ever when I see you tomorrow." He said tiredly, smiling lazily like a little child. Kurt chuckled, nodding.

"Candy-cane white hot chocolate will do. I'll even get Carole to make you one of those homemade breakfast sandwiches you seem to like so much." Blaine smiled widely at him.

"God Kurt, you're the _best_ boyfriend _ever_." He said happily before yawning. "Okay, I think it's definitely time for bed. I'll see you tomorrow at seven in our usual spot. Bye."

"See you tomorrow." Kurt returned with a small smile. "Sweet dreams."

"Sleep well, Kurtie." Blaine answered sleepily. Kurt rolled his eyes and waved a goodbye before closing the computer. He carefully placed the laptop on his desk before returning to his bed, pulling the blankets to his chin, and for the first time that day, Kurt felt himself relax, thinking of Blaine's smiling face and adorable laugh as he fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	8. Chapter 8

Burt's eyes widened as his hand stilled on Kurt's doorknob. He had just finished eating his dinner when he asked Carole where his son was. She had told him he was in his room, on Skype with his boyfriend. That the two -or at least Blaine- had had a bad day. With that being said, Burt had planned on coming up to see what was wrong, since Carole couldn't weasel it out of the two of them, and to say goodnight.

He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he didn't want to interrupt his son's conversation either, so he waited outside the door until they had finished. Why was Blaine talking about chemotherapy? Burt listened more intently and could pick out the soft sounds of Kurt crying. And when their conversation ended (thankfully, not on such a depressing note as it was began) Burt couldn't bring himself to go inside Kurt's room. His son had obviously been through a lot with this kid and they were working it out.

But this whole mess made Burt's head reel as he lay awake that night in his bed, mind wandering far too much for his to get any rest. How long had these two known about this? How long had they been hiding all this pain and tears and fear? As he finally drifted to sleep, Burt made a promise to himself to talk to his son about this the next day.

Kurt woke up late the next day. Well, not too late, but late enough. He had put off his shower, which he usually takes before bed, for that morning, but there wasn't time for that anymore. It was 15 to 5 and if he wanted to be at school on time, he had to leave at 5. Today was one of the few days Kurt thanked his father for sending him to a private school with a uniform; he wouldn't have to spend forever trying to pick out the perfect outfit and then a backup outfit just in case he got slushied.

He quickly used a wet clothe to wash himself a bit (because he's Kurt Hummel and going to school without a shower was like going to school without your pants to him), he put product in his hair, not bothering to coif it with hounds of hairspray as he usually does, and then pulled on his uniform and jogged quickly down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder. Carole chuckled softly as he ran into the kitchen where she was making lunches for her, Burt and Finn.

"Someone's in a bit of a rush this morning." She teased as he hurried around the room, grabbing a quick breakfast he could eat on the way to school.

"I woke up late, and I have to stop for coffee for me and Blaine on the way to school." He told her, putting the food items into his satchel. "Oh, speaking of Blaine. Can you whip up one of those heavenly breakfast sandwiches you make sometimes? Blaine loves them and I want to cheer him up a bit." Carole smiled at him in response.

"Of course I can, sweetie. Do you want me to make you one too?" She asked as she pulled the ingredients from the fridge. Kurt just shrugged and told her he didn't care, as long as Blaine had one. Before long, Carole was handing him a Tupperware with 4 little packages inside of it.

"Give this to him too, alright Kurt?" She said, handing her step-son another container, this one filled with grapes, strawberries and blueberries. "He looked a bit pale yesterday, I don't know if it's just the seasons change or what, but I went to boarding school growing up too, I remember how hard it is to fit food into the equation when you're surrounded by school and friends all day every day." Kurt paused, biting his lip before taking the fruit and putting it in his bag. He hated not telling her the truth. But he had to respect Blaine's wishes. Blaine would tell them when he was ready. And he would have to do it soon, if they wanted Kurt to be there at his appointments later that week.

"Thanks Carole." He told her with a small smile. "I'm sure he'll really appreciate this." He said honestly before putting the containers into his bag and leaving the house.

Blaine woken up a few hours past midnight in a cold sweat. He was breathing heavily, heart beating far too quickly. He tried to slow his breathing, shut his eyes tightly, trying to remember his dream, but came up short handed. He just wanted to sleep, but he knew he couldn't, so he got up and walked out of his bedroom to the living room. He turned on the TV, volume on low so it wouldn't wake David's family and he made a cocoon of blankets for himself on the couch.

He didn't know how long he had been there for, just watching the images on the screen passing, never actually paying enough attention to what exactly they were, but he knew it was peaceful. He was calm, his heart stopped racing, his breathing returned to normal. When his alarm went off hours later, he groaned as he turned off the TV and stood up, going to take a shower.

"_Blaine,_" David called down the stairs about 20 minutes later when he was in the process of tying his tie for school. "_Do you want a lift to school, or are you driving there yourself?_" Blaine licked his lips.

"Well, I have soccer practice tonight." He responded, "So unless you're willing to wait at school until 8, I think I'll decline your offer." He responded. He heard David sigh.

"Why do you talk like that?" He asked, coming down the stairs to talk probably with his friend. Blaine shot him a bit of a glare when he jumped on to the couch with his shoes on.

"Talk like what?" Blaine snapped, pulling his jacket over his uniform. David shook his head pursing his lips before responded.

"Talk like you're a teacher at our school instead of a student. _I think I'll decline your offer._ Seriously, what the hell, Blaine? You're 17, not 40." Blaine scoffed, getting annoyed at his "best friend". He grabbed his backpack and gym bag before stomping out of the apartment without another word. David stared after his best friend in shock.

Kurt parked his car haphazardly in the student parking lot before throwing his door open and running out of the car to where he knew Blaine was waiting for him in the student library and cafe for breakfast. "Hi, hi! I'm so sorry I'm late!" Kurt called to his boyfriend when he spotted him in the corner in a leather seat. Blaine gave him a small smile as he handed him his hot beverage and the containers of food from Carole.

"Hey, thanks Kurt." Blaine said lightly, taking the containers. "Mm, candy cane white hot chocolate. God, this is so good." Blaine moaned, taking a large sip of his drink. Kurt chuckled, sitting beside Blaine as they waited for the first bell to ring.

"Oh, these are from Carole. She said something about how she used to go to boarding school and remembers that she used to forget to eat or something. She's worried about you, Blaine." Kurt told him. Blaine sighed, closing his eyes as Kurt spoke. Blaine liked Carole, he really did. She was a sweet woman and had only ever been nice to him since the first day she had met him. She did not want to worry her. But he knew the truth would cause her even more concern and grief than just believing he wasn't eating well.

"Tell her I said thanks and I really appreciate it." Blaine told his boyfriend and he took out a breakfast sandwich to eat. "Oh my god! These are heavenly!" Blaine groaned, taking a larger bite. Kurt giggled, earning him a glare from Blaine. "Shush you, you should be happy I'm eating right now." He told Kurt in a playful tone. Kurt's smile faltered. How could Blaine joke about this so calmly?

"I-I have to go. I just remembered that I have a test in chem today and I have some questions for my teacher. I'll talk to you later, alright?" Kurt said quickly, standing from his seat. Blaine shot him a confused gaze.

"O-okay. Soccer practice starts at 6 today, meet me by my car and we can go out and get a quick dinner together?" He asked in a hopeful voice. Kurt licked his lips and nodded.

"That sounds lovely, Blaine. I'll see you in Latin." And with that, Kurt was gone. Blaine sighed, going back to his breakfast while he pondered what had set his boyfriend off.

Kurt gave Blaine a soft, distracted smile when he entered their Latin class that day, but otherwise ignored his boyfriend. If Blaine doubted that something was wrong before, he didn't anymore. He tried to pass Kurt a short note, asking him what was wrong, but Kurt brushed it off, responding with a short 'I'm trying to pay attention to the lesson stop passing me notes'. When the bell rang to signal the end of class, Kurt stood up quickly; bolting out of the room before Blaine even collected his books.

"Is something wrong, Kurt?" David asked, slipping into the spare seat beside him in the dining hall at lunch that day. Kurt sighed, pushing his salad around on his plate.

"It's nothing, David." He mumbled; still not bring food to his mouth. David watched him for a moment before sighing.

"Kurt, you know that I know about Blaine. I know how hard it can be to come to terms with your best friend dying. I can't imagine what it's like for you, being his boyfriend-"

"David. Stop." Kurt cut him off. It was only now that David noticed that his blue eyes are shining with unshed tears, his voice sounding shaken. David bit his lip. Kurt was breaking. He was piling this all up inside, he probably hadn't even told anyone how this was affecting him. This was killing him.

"I just want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. And so is my family and Wes and I'm sure that Blaine's parents wouldn't mind if you called them up. They've been through this before. _Twice._ They might have some advice on how to deal with it." Kurt looked up at David with his tear filled eyes.

"Thank you."

Blaine stood outside of his car after the end of the school day, his winter jacket wrapped tightly around his body as he waited for Kurt to appear. What had he done wrong? Why was Kurt ignoring him? Would he even come today? His thoughts were interrupted by a set of hand on his face and a pair of lips on his. When he was released, he found a smiling Kurt.

"Hey there stranger." Kurt told him with a teasing smile. Blaine gave him a small smile.

"Mm, we better get out of here before my boyfriend gets here." Blaine joked, leaning in to kiss him. Kurt chuckled against his lips, hands wrapping around Blaine's neck.

"Let's get to dinner." Kurt opened Blaine's car door. Blaine smiled, blushing briefly. How did he get so lucky? Kurt got into the driver's side of Blaine's car, taking them to a restaurant a few blocks away from their school. "Come on, mon cheri, we're on a deadline!" Kurt told him. Blaine rolled his eyes with a smile, exiting the car and following Kurt into the restaurant where they were seated quickly.

"How's your stomach? Do you want something light?" Kurt asked his boyfriend, "I mean, you have a two hour soccer practice after this." Blaine smiled at him, nodding.

"That sounds perfect, Kurt." Blaine told him. Kurt smiled before looking through his menu for his own meal. Blaine and Kurt shared their dinner; Blaine had an Italian wedding soup, Kurt a grilled chicken salad.

"Can we have the check?" Kurt asked the waiter when they had finished. "And quickly, we're in a bit of a rush." The woman nodded at him with a smile.

"Of course sir." She responded, walking in the direction of the bar. Blaine moved around so he could pull his wallet out of his back pocket.

"Ah ah ah, don't you dare, Anderson. Dinner is on me. Consider it an apology for ignoring you today." Kurt interrupted, giving the waitress a fifty when she returned. After receiving the change the couple exited to Blaine's car.

"Speaking of," Blaine called after Kurt. Kurt didn't pause or turn around; he only hummed in response as he unlocked the doors. "Why did you ignore me today? Did I do something wrong?" Blaine asked, turning Kurt before he could escape inside the car. Kurt averted his eyes to the asphalt. "Kurt, please, just tell me." Blaine begged, taking Kurt's soft hand in his, stroking his thumb across Kurt's knuckles.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." Kurt mumbled, still not meeting his eyes. "It was stupid. Can we just forget it happened?" He looked up at Blaine for a moment. Blaine gave him a concerned look.

"Please, I just want to know. We've only been dating for a short time; we can't start our relationship by keeping secrets with each other." Blaine responded. He gave Kurt's hands a reassuring squeeze. "Please, Kurt. You can trust me." Kurt lifted his eyes to the sky.

"Oh God, please not the puppy dog eyes." Kurt muttered. Blaine lifted a hand to Kurt's cheek, moving his face down so he was looking at him.

"Kurt. I need you to be honest me. About everything. Please, just do that for me." Blaine pleaded. Kurt nodded quickly.

"Alright, I will." Kurt told him in a breathy mumble. "I'm terrified, Blaine." He admitted. "I'm so scared about what is going to happen. To you, to us. And I really don't want to find out." Kurt sniffed. "Just hearing you joke about it earlier, it made me scared. How could you be so indifferent about this?" Blaine sighed, moving closer to his boyfriend, bringing his hand up to caress Kurt's cheek in comfort.

"That's because this is my third time going through this, Kurt. Granted, I don't remember the first time, but I do remember the last. I almost gave up that time, Kurt. I understand that I can die. But I also understand that if I focus too much on the bad I will break. If this is what ends me, I don't want it to be in defeat. I want to live stupidly, be naive and a stupid idiot. I want to get into stupid fights with you and not have any regrets. I know this is difficult to deal with. But I'm here; you can talk to me about it. I don't give a crap if you think I'm too _fragile_ for you to burden me with your feelings about this. I'm not, and it's not a burden. I need to know how you feel. I need to know how you're coping and if you're _not _coping, I want to be the one there to piece you back together." Blaine told him. He watched as his thumb traced Kurt's cheekbone before leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to Kurt's forehead, then his temple, his cheekbone, his nose and lastly, the corner of his mouth. "Promise me you'll be truthful to me about this. Please. If the cancer doesn't kill me, seeing you bottle this all up inside _will_." Blaine breathed against Kurt's moist lips.

Kurt swallowed before nodding, eyes closed as he took in the proximity of his boyfriend. The feeling of his warm breath on his skin, his cold hand on his cheek, his body pressed flush against him. "I promise, Blaine. I'll always tell you how I feel, if not only so you do the same."


	9. Chapter 9

Kurt spent the two hour drive back to Lima trying to stop thinking about Blaine's health and trying to think more about the happy moments they've spent together. He was in a significantly happier mood by the time he pulled up to his house an hour after the sun had set. He hummed happily as he unlocked the front door.

"I'm home!" Kurt called, taking off his jacket and hanging it in the closet. When no one answered him he frowned, it was far too quiet in the home. He couldn't even hear the sound of the television playing, or Carole making dinner. "Hello? Anybody home? All the cars are in the driveway." Kurt called out, pulling off his shoes before walking into the hall cautiously.

"Oh, Kurt, can you come in here please, I'd like to talk with you." His father responded, opening the door that led to the garage. Kurt nodded, following him into the garage in his sock feet. Burt motioned for him to sit on one of the empty chairs that were in there.

"What's up dad?" Kurt asked as they both sat down. Burt sighed and took off his hat, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

"I've been gravelling with how to bring this up all day. I convinced Carole to take Finn to the plaza a couple blocks over to get dinner and have some mother-son bonding time so no one will interrupt or overhear-"

"_Dad_ what is this about?" Kurt asked, getting impatient and kind of nervous.

"I overhead you and Blaine talking last night-" Kurt`s jaw dropped in shock before he cut off his father.

"Oh my God! Dad! You eavesdropped on me and my boyfriend?" Kurt shrieked, standing up with wide eyes. No, this was just a bad dream; Burt couldn't have heard them on Skype the prior night.

"Kurt, calm down. I didn't mean to. I was coming to say goodnight and I heard you talking, I didn't want to interrupt so I was waiting for you to finish and couldn't help but overhear what the conversation was about. I'm sorry I invaded your privacy, but I'm worried about you Kurt, and Blaine for the matter, too." Kurt scoffed, rolling his eyes and he crossed his arms across his chest.

"You don't have to worry about us, dad, we're working it out." Kurt assured him.

"You shouldn't have to work it out, Kurt!" Burt yelled, "Your boyfriend has _cancer_. You shouldn't have to go through this alone, kid! I've been there before, remember?" Kurt swallowed, tears filling his eyes as he adverted his eyes, looking anymore but where his father was standing.

"You think I don't know that, dad?" Kurt asked in a whisper. "My boyfriend is _dying_. I finally find someone who likes me in _that_ way and this happens." Kurt bit his trembling lip, telling himself he will not cry anymore over this, not right now, not in front of his father. "And you think I don't remember that dad? Trust me; I remember everything about that time. I remember going and visiting mom in the hospital when she got out of surgery. You two sitting me down and telling me that she was sick. Going to her chemo treatments. You sitting me down and telling me things weren't working out. Grandma telling me that mommy was gonna be sleeping for a very long time because you were too ruined about mom dying to tell me yourself. I remember dad. I don't think anybody would be able to forget their _mother dying_." Kurt said in a hard, trembling voice. He felt a tear wet his cheek and groaned, throwing his arms in the air and he wiped his face clean.

"Kurt," Burt hesitantly said after a moment. "I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to hide this from me. I can help you, both of you. I can't imagine how scared that kid must be, getting cancer at his age." Burt sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Why isn't he back home with his family? Don't they live in Oregon?"

"They do, Blaine asked to do treatment here." Kurt mumbled, feeling emotionally worn out. "It's a relapse. A _second_ relapse. His parents were going to keep him in Oregon until after he was back in remission, but he asked them not to. He wanted to fight it out here, surrounded by his friends." Kurt told his father, sounding tired. Burt inhaled sharply. _Relapse_. Blaine had been through this before. "You can't tell anyone though, dad." Kurt said quickly after a silence. Burt's head shot up, Kurt was staring at him with a hard expression. "You found out by accident. Blaine doesn't want anyone to know just yet. He's scared and telling people would make it more real. I promised him I would respect his wishes and wait for him to be ready. He wants to be the one to tell everyone that he's sick."

"Fine. I won't tell Carole. But he has to tell people soon. Tell him I'm thinking about him, alright? Bring him around for dinner sometime soon; I'm sure Carole would love to see him again soon. God knows she loves that boy." Burt said before walking over to the radio in the far corner, turning it on before going to the small engine that was in middle of the garage. "They should be back in about 20 minutes, I'll call you when it's time to eat, and you can go do as you wish until then." Burt told his son. Kurt had never been more grateful for his father than in that moment.

The following day, Blaine spent every minute he possibly could with Kurt at his side. Kurt's hand was securely held in his during all of their Latin period, though they didn't talk because the teacher was handing out the outline for their oral exam. When the bell rang, they parted with a kiss and only reunited once more at the end of the day by Kurt's car. They stood facing each other, hands between their bodies in a tight grip, just looking into each other's eyes with soft smiles.

"My dad knows, Blaine." Kurt whispered after a moment of quiet between them. Blaine frowned.

"What exactly does he _know_?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow. _You promised you wouldn't tell. You promised, Kurt._

"He overheard our conversation the other night over Skype. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for him to find out. But it's better this way, he told me he'd call Headmaster Nichols and tell him that whenever you have an appointment, I'll be with you and that I'm excused from my classes on those days. He promised not to tell Finn or Carole, so you don't have to worry. I promise." Kurt told him with a squeeze of his hands. Blaine bit his lip, looking around the parking lot, thinking about what to say in response. He was relieved that Burt would do that for him, allowing his son to miss school so that he wouldn't be alone during treatment.

"I, uh, okay. That's good. So you're coming on Thursday then?" Blaine asked in a small voice; bring his eyes back to look at Kurt. Kurt nodded with a small smile.

"Mhm, I'll be right beside you. I won't leave you alone." Kurt assured him. "Oh, by the way, dad wanted me to invite you over for dinner sometime soon. But only if you're feeling up to it. I've done some research on ALL and chemotherapy treatments and it all says you'll be really nauseous and feeling sick for about a week after your treatments." Blaine nodded, just a small motion of his head.

"Yeah," He responded in a small voice. "Yeah, I get pretty bad after chemo. The first one's always the worst though." He said, mentally shuddering as he remembered the last time. Those days spent after treatment, basically living in the bathroom with the overheated skin of his face and neck laying on the cold porcelain of the toilet. Kurt bit his lip, watching as his boyfriend was obviously reliving past memories.

"Just text me when you're up to it and I'll tell Carole to make extra that night." Kurt told him with an easy smile before leaning in and giving Blaine a quick kiss, waking Blaine out of his reverie. "I gotta go, Carole's working afternoon shift so I have to make dinner and I need to stop by the store to stock up on food." Blaine pouted at him.

"Alright, I'll just stop by the cafe and get a snack before I go to fencing. Text me when you get home?" Kurt nodded in response, a smile on his face. Blaine smiled back. "Drive safely. I'll talk to you tonight after practice. Coffee's on me tomorrow." Blaine told him, finishing his statement with a quick kiss so Kurt couldn't protest. Kurt frowned, opening his mouth to speak as Blaine opened his car door and forced him inside before closing the door. Kurt quickly opened his window and once it was fully opened, Blaine leaned inside of it with a small smile. "No arguing, you're coming with me to the hospital tomorrow, I owe you the coffee."

"But you got the coffee _today_." Kurt whined. Blaine chuckled; his boyfriend was so adorable when he pouted. "Blaine, I'm serious. Tomorrow's _my_ day to get the coffee. If you bring coffee tomorrow morning, you will never taste my lips again." Kurt told him, a serious look on his face. Blaine gave him a blank stare.

"Please tell me you're joking. You're joking right? You can_not_ take away your _kisses_!" Blaine protested. Kurt giggled.

"Try me, Anderson. Bring coffee tomorrow morning and you'll see just how serious I am. These lips will no longer attach to yours, ever. You will be deprived, I promise you." Blaine groaned, dropping his head against the door frame.

"I hate you." He groaned. Kurt giggled, bringing his hand up to Blaine's cheek, making his boyfriend open his hazel eyes and look at him.

"No, you really don't." He told him with a teasing smile. Blaine gave him a fake exasperated sigh.

"You're right." He sighed. "Drive safely, and text me when you get to Lima, don't forget." He leaned in to kiss Kurt's forehead softly. Kurt smiled widely at him.

"Like I'd forget to text you. I'll see you tomorrow." Blaine leaned away from the car as Kurt waved a goodbye before driving off. Blaine stood there for a moment before going to get a small dinner before his fencing practice.

Like promised, Kurt sent Blaine a quick text when he arrived at his house in Lima at 7 that night. Most days Kurt wished his family had enough money to pay for him to board at Dalton, of course the two hour drive both ways was worth it because he got to see his family every day and not just on the weekends, but it was frustrating having to wake up super early to leave for school and getting home so late, seeing as classes ended at 5 every day. It made him feel grateful that he had been able to arrange his schedule for the next semester so his last period was a spare.

"Hey man, thank God you're home. I'm so hungry!" Finn said with his mouth full of Doritos when Kurt entered the kitchen. Kurt narrowed his eyes at the large bag of chips on the counter in front of his step-brother.

"Finn," Kurt warned as he dropped the bag full of chicken he bought at the local grocery store on the counter by the sink. "Don't fill your stomach with junk, dinner will be ready soon."

"What are you making?" Finn asked, his mouth full once again with chips. Kurt rolled his eyes as he put the chicken in a bowl in the sink to wash it before cooking.

"If you must know, I'm making Avocado, Beet and Chicken tostadas. We made them in my foods class the other day. They're healthy and extremely delicious, you'll like it." Kurt informed him as he moved around the kitchen, getting the ingredients out that he needed.

"You just said _healthy_, I doubt they're delicious too. I'll be in my room, call me when it's done." Finn told him before walking off. Kurt rolled his eyes before getting to work on making the food.

When he was putting the final touches on dinner, the front door opened. "I'm home!" His father's voice called. Kurt responded with a hello as he continued. His father found his way to the kitchen. "Smells good, kid. What ch'ya making?" He asked, reaching out pick out some of food. Kurt swatted his hand away.

"Don't you dare. It's almost done, you can wait 2 minutes." He hissed. Burt lifted his hands, stepping backwards away from his son.

"Sorry. I'm gonna change before dinner." Kurt rolled his eyes, not bothering to answer as he continued with the rest of the meal. He was just putting the last of the meal on the table when his father came back down, fully showered and in a clean pair of jeans and a plaid shirt. "You talk to Blaine?" He asked his son. Kurt sighed, sitting at the table.

"Yeah, I did." Kurt said, "He starts chemo in the next couple of days, so he isn't going to be feeling up to dinner anytime soon. But he told me that he would say when he was feeling up to it, and he'd love to come. Now go get Finn, will ya?" Burt put up his hands in surrender, slowly backing out of the kitchen.

"Alright. I can tell when I'm too close for comfort." Burt told his son. Kurt was so grateful for his father right then, that he understood how hard it was for Kurt to go through this. "Carole should be home soon, set another place at the table for her." Kurt nodded, walking back into the kitchen to get another setting for his step-mother.

Blaine texted Kurt when he got out of practice, just a quick '_Hi, practice just finished. I'll call when I get home_'. He stopped at the pizza place on the way to David's house and picked up a small pizza and milkshake. When he arrived at the Keyes home, he sat down on his bed, pizza box open on his mattress between his legs. He held his phone in his hand and dialled his boyfriend's number as he put a slice of pizza in his mouth.

"_Blaine?_" Kurt breathed out after three rings, "_Hi. How are you?_" Blaine instantly smiled at the sound of his boyfriend's voice.

"Hey, I'm great, even more so now that I'm talking to _you_." He told Kurt, taking a sip of his drink. Kurt chuckled on the other side of the phone.

"_You're such a cheese ball, B._" Kurt responded, Blaine could just _hear_ the smile in his voice.

"That's what I'm here for!" Blaine answered with a toothy grin. Kurt sat up more comfortably against his headboard before speaking again.

"_Well, did you want to talk about something specific or-_"

"Um, no I actually just wanted to hear your voice before I went to bed. I'm pretty tired after the long day I had." Blaine told him. Kurt bit his lip, nodding even though he knew Blaine couldn't see him. He wouldn't deny the small tang of disappointment he felt when Blaine told him that.

"_That's understandable,_" Kurt sighed, "_Remember to eat before you go to sleep, you're not allowed to eat after 11 tonight and I don't want you passing out in class tomorrow morning._"

"I'm eating right now." Blaine promised, "I promise I will stuff my body full of food before I fall asleep tonight, just to make you happy." Blaine teased. Kurt scoffed on the other line.

"_It better all be healthy food, Blaine Anderson._" Kurt warned. "_I'm gonna let you go so you can finish eating and get to sleep quicker. I can tell by your voice that you're exhausted. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?_"

"Yeah, sounds great. See you tomorrow, Kurt. Goodnight." Blaine responded, lifting another piece of pizza to his mouth.

"_Sweet dreams, B._"


	10. Chapter 10

Blaine woke up earlier than he needed to be at school on time. He opened his eyes, squinting at the alarm clock to check the time. The red numbers declaring it to be 3 in the morning. He groaned, hitting his head back against his pillow. He just wanted to sleep. He lay awake for a few minutes, mindlessly rolling around trying to get comfortable once again before his phone vibrated where it was charging on the desk. Blaine sighed, rolling off of the bed on to the floor. He groaned before standing and pulling his phone off the charger and bringing it to his face.

'FROM: Kurt  
I don't know about you, but I can't sleep. :(  
Text me when you wake up? 3  
-K'

Blaine smiled, pressing the call button before getting back on the bed and laying down with his head on the pillow, finally able to get comfortable.

"_Blaine? Why are you calling me? It's 3 in the morning._" Kurt asked in a hoarse whisper. Blaine smiled widely, heart swelling at the sound of his boyfriend's tired voice.

"Couldn't sleep. Wanted to hear my boyfriend's voice." Blaine told him in a soft voice. Blaine heard Kurt chuckle over the receiver. Neither boy spoke for a few minutes, completely at peace with just hearing the other breathing on the other line.

"_Go to sleep, Blaine. You need the rest. I'll see you in a few hours."_ Kurt finally told him. Blaine sighed.

"Alright. You get some sleep too, Hummel, you need it. See you later." Blaine hung up, placing the phone back in its charger before burrowing back into his cocoon of blankets and falling asleep quickly.

"Rise and shine, Blainers!" Blaine groaned as a body jumped on to him a few hours later. "Wakey wakey! Kurt called, said he was gonna drive you to school today. You have to get ready!" Blaine grumbled something unintelligible that sounded eerily like, 'So fucking cheery in the morning'. The other boy chuckled over top of him. "C'mon Blanderson, your boyfriend is gonna be here in half an hour, wake up and get dressed -or not, if that's what you two are into-" Blaine threw a pillow at David, hitting the teenager in the head. David cried out in protest. Blaine glared at him.

"Kurt and I do _not_ have sex." Blaine muttered as he sat up against the headboard of his bed. David pouted at him, making a show of rubbing his head where the pillow had hit him as he stood up off the bed.

"Okay, yeah whatever, Blaine. That hurt." He whined. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Just get out of my room, David. I'll talk to you later." Blaine told him, slightly annoyed at the lack of privacy David was giving him. David sighed, picking up the pillow Blaine had thrown at him to place back on to the bed softly.

"I can see when I'm not wanted." David told him, backing up out of the room. "I'll send Kurt down when he gets here." Blaine thanked him in a soft mumble before David shut the door to his room. Blaine only moved to get out of bed when he heard David walk up the stairs and shut the door to the basement, leaving Blaine alone in his little apartment.

He got up out of his bed slowly and got everything he needed for the day ready before taking a shower. After he was finished getting ready, he wrapped himself in blankets, only his head peeking out of them as he watched television, waiting for Kurt to show up.

"Blaine?" Kurt's voices called as footsteps were heard walking down the stairs. "Hm, I wonder where my boyfriend may be." Kurt said when he got to the bottom of the stairs. "All I see in a bundle of blankets on the couch. Oh well, I guess I'll just sit here and wait for him." Kurt said, making a show of sitting on the pile of blankets. Blaine groaned as Kurt's weight landed on his torso.

"Kurt," He groaned, "Cancer patient under here, get off before I die under your weight." Blaine said. Kurt stilled, getting off of the couch before turning to face Blaine. He pulled the blanket down to see Blaine's entire face. Blaine was giving him a grin.

"Don't joke about that." Kurt told him with an agonized look in his eyes. "Don't joke about the cancer or dying. Please, just not around me." Kurt pleaded. Blaine's smile fell and he nodded quickly, reaching a hand out to caress his boyfriend's cheek.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Blaine told him, tracing his thumb over Kurt's cheekbone. "I won't do it again. I'm so sorry. I forget sometimes that you're not used to it. This is just how I cope." Kurt sighed, leaning into Blaine's touch before turning his head to kiss his palm.

"I know it is." Kurt told him. "Now c'mon, we got to get going if we want to get to school on time. I brought you a vitamin water since you can't have anything other than water." Blaine smiled, taking the bottle that Kurt handed to him.

"Thanks, Kurt." He told him, opening it to take a sip of the drink. Kurt just smiled and kissed his cheek. "Anything for you. Now let's go."

The morning went by too quickly in Blaine's mind. Before he knew it, he was back in Kurt's car and on the way to the hospital for the bone marrow transplant. Kurt, though he was driving, had one hand on Blaine's knee, squeezing gently to try to give his boyfriend some sort of comfort. There was no music; the radio had been turned off by a grumpy Blaine only 5 minutes into the drive.

"B, relax." Kurt told him after a few minutes. Blaine sighed, leaning his head against the cool window of the door.

"I can't relax, Kurt." He mumbled. "I don't want to relax. I want to be in class right now writing some stupid note about something I already know. I want to be a stupid teenager and break curfew and have my biggest worries be going to your house for dinner or having a fight with you or getting in trouble with my parents. It's not fair." Kurt bit his lip, glancing over at Blaine before reverting his eyes to the road once more.

"I know it's not fair. Hell, I _know_ it's _so_ not fair that you're going through this, Blaine. Do you think I like this? Huh? Leaving school early to drive you to get a bone marrow transplant because you have _cancer_? No! I don't like it!" Kurt told him. He sighed, pulling the car over before undoing his seat belt and facing Blaine. "You're my boyfriend, my _first_ boyfriend. I care a lot about you, Blaine. I did even before we got together. I hate seeing you so down. I wish I could just take it all away. I wish I could kiss it all better. But that's not possible.

"You're the most amazing person I've ever met, Blaine. I don't know why this is happening to you, you don't deserve it. _Nobody_ deserves this. But it's here now so we have to face it, and you're gonna beat this thing. I promise. I'll be right beside you the entire time. Okay?" Blaine nodded, tears streaming down his face. Kurt smiled sadly at him before leaning over and kissing him. "Everything will turn out, alright? I promise you, everything will be alright."

When they arrived at the hospital, they did not expect for the nurse to make Kurt wait outside in the waiting room while Blaine was whisked away in a wheelchair to be prepped. Before they were separated, Kurt managed to give Blaine a quick kiss and a tight squeeze of his hand. Blaine gave him a grateful smile before he was dragged off.

Kurt sat in the waiting room for a long time, a few hours at most. At first he was playing random games on his phone, waiting for someone to come out and tell him more about what was going on with Blaine. After a while, he turned him phone off and fell asleep. A nurse shook him awake a few hours later. He blinked up at her with a confused expression.

"Are you here with Blaine Anderson?" She asked him. He nodded, sitting up properly on the chair before glancing around the room. There was nobody else there except for an elderly woman and a small little girl who had to be about 6.

"Yes, yeah I am. What happened? How is he?" He asked in a hurried breath. The woman chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"He's alright. The procedure went perfectly." Kurt sighed a breath of relief, smiling. "He's resting at the moment, but we can allow you into his room to see him, if you'd like." Kurt nodded quickly.

"Yes, please. Thank you so much." He told her. The woman smiled at him and led him to the room Blaine was in. On the way to the room, she explained what they had done.

"First, we did a quick round of radiation, trying to get as much of his existing bone marrow as weak as possible before it got taken out. The first two or three hours are spent excreting his existing marrow before we replaced it with the new one." Kurt nodded, trying to follow along. Though she was using the simplest terms she could to explain it to Kurt, the nurse was making no sense to him at all when all of his nerve endings were screaming out for Blaine.

"Like I said earlier, he is asleep. He will need his rest, so I recommend you do not wake him. If he is still asleep when you leave, I will leave a note to the nurse on duty when he awakes that you were here." Kurt nodded. The woman smiled before gesturing at the room they stopped in front of. "Go on in." He breathed out before opening the door and entering the hospital room.

He lightly shut the door behind him, leaving him alone once again. He turned slowly to face the bed. Blaine lay there, eyes shut, mouth slightly opening as he slept. Kurt suppressed a giggle at the small snores that escaped his boyfriend's mouth. Blaine had an IV in his left arm by his wrist and a gauze in the crease of his elbow of the same arm. Kurt felt his stomach roll at the bags under Blaine's eyes, the way his right hand twitched in his sleep, or the way he eyes darted under his eyelids. He tried to ignore the stench of vomit that came from the steal garbage bin beside Blaine's bed, trying to ignore what it meant. Blaine had been sick, probably had felt so terrible and -if the puffiness of his face was anything to go by- had cried during the past couple of hours, and Kurt hadn't been there to hold his hand and push his curls off of his face and tell him everything would be alright.

Kurt bit his lip as he pulled a chair over to the side of Blaine bed. He took his right hand in his before reaching he free hand up to wisp his curls off of his face before running a hand through them. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." Kurt whispered before pressing a kiss to Blaine's wrist. Blaine moved, making a noise of protest before his eyes fluttered open.

"It wasn't your fault." Blaine told him hoarsely. Kurt let his hand small from his hair to his cheek.

"I thought you were asleep." He mumbled.

"I woke up a few minutes after you came in, but I didn't want to open my eyes." Blaine told him before turning on his side to face Kurt.

"How do you feel? Do you need anything? Water, food?" Blaine shook his head, squeezing Kurt's hand.

"I have everything I need right here." Blaine told him fondly. Kurt blushed, trying to hide his face in the covers of the bed. Blaine chuckled lightly, moving his hand to pushed Kurt's face up to look at him. "Don't hide your beautiful face." Blaine told him. Kurt sighed, leaning into Blaine's touch.

"You never told me how you were feeling." Kurt pointed out in a soft voice. Blaine sighed, leaning back on the pillows that were on the bed.

"Do you want the honest version or the fluffed up version?" Blaine asked, voice a bit rougher than it had been a second earlier.

"Honest, please." Kurt told him. Blaine huffed, shutting his eyes.

"Like a eighteen wheeler ran me over and then spit me out back on to the pavement just so a million other vehicles could do the same." Blaine muttered, voice sounding a bit bitter. Kurt winced.

"I'm sorry." Kurt told him. Blaine shook his head.

"Not your fault." Blaine muttered, eyes still shut. Kurt sighed, leaning up to kiss Blaine's cheek. Blaine sighed happily at that.

"I think I'm going to go now, my dad texted me a few minutes ago asking when I'd be home for dinner. I'll be back tomorrow morning, I'll bring you a change of clothes, something comfortable and then we can hang out before we have to come back for your chemo, sound good?" Blaine nodded, opening his eyes tiredly to look up at Kurt.

"Text me when you get home?" Blaine asked him in a mumble. Kurt smiled, nodding before leaning back down and kissing Blaine on the lips. Blaine hummed happily before they pulled away.

"Sleep well, Blaine." Kurt said, pressing a light kiss to his chaste. Blaine hummed in response before burrowing into the bed as Kurt left the room.


End file.
